


The Tritter Arc As A Metaphor For Homophobia

by smallredboy



Category: House M.D.
Genre: Canon-Typical Behavior, Drug Addiction, Extended Metaphors, Gay Subtext, Gen, Homoeroticism, Homophobia, M/M, Meta, Non-Consensual Touching, Pretentiousness, Sexual Themes, Tritter Arc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-13 20:20:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21003587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smallredboy/pseuds/smallredboy
Summary: A meta pseudo-essay in which I delve onto a pretentious (and very gay) reading of the Tritter arc.





	The Tritter Arc As A Metaphor For Homophobia

**Author's Note:**

> hugely inspired by my friend mango's (tumblr user bolaid) hot takes about the tritter arc.
> 
> i haven't watched the tritter arc in well over half a year. all of this is from memory. you're gonna have to trust me.
> 
> also, i don't ship house/tritter. it's for archiving purposes and also because, well, You Know.
> 
> enjoy!

One of the most important things about the Tritter arc is the fact it is over the top and melodramatic. Everything is amped up to eleven; all the logic of how police officers are supposed to act is thrown out of the window (in real life, Tritter’s actions are outrageous enough for the corrupt system of the police in the USA to do something about it), and all we are left with is a police officer going toe-to-toe with Dr. Greg House over a rectal thermometer and some Vicodin.

At least, that’s what it seems to be at first glance, for the typical cisgender heterosexual viewer without a penchant for analysis and pretentious metaphors. But the mechanics of the arc leave it like a metaphor for something else. Namely, homophobic (or repressed gay, depending on how you want to look at it) authority figures punishing gay people. 

It’s hard to ignore the parallels between Michael Tritter and John House, House’s on-paper father. They are both punishing authority figures, and they are both in service jobs (John House in the military, Michael Tritter in the police). They are both with a vendetta against House. The parallels are there, surely enough, but Tritter’s episodes delve into something else.

The sequence of the Tritter arc, when left to its most bare, goes something like this:

  1. A man is humiliated by another man. / Tritter is left there with a rectal thermometer for over half an hour by House.
  2. Said man goes on a hunt for proof of the man’s wrongdoings, looking to find him ‘in the act’. / Tritter starts to look for proof of House’s addiction and him being fraudulent about his prescriptions.
  3. Said man hounds the man’s employees and friends to learn the man’s ‘secrets’. / Tritter asks Chase, Cameron and Foreman about House’s drug habits, in search of proof about his addiction.
  4. Said man pushes the envelope until the man’s best friend breaks and betrays the man, telling on his ‘secret’, and it is shown as an immense betrayal. / Tritter pushes until Wilson shows him the proof of House being fraudulent about his prescriptions.
  5. Afterward, the man’s boss defends him, proving that he hasn’t done anything wrong. / Cuddy perjures herself to save House and keep him out of jail.

Needless to say to all the LGBT+ people reading this, _ does this remind you of anything? _

Wilson’s betrayal of House is treated as such a grave incident that it can almost be comparable to being outed. It’s compared to Judas’ betrayal of Jesus, as shown in the episode _ Finding Judas _ . Wilson references the thirty pieces of silver, Judas was given for ‘outing’ Jesus, and the fact it’s _ comparable _to that in the minds of the writers speaks for itself.

Aside from that, we have some of the language of the episodes. It’s only two instances that come to mind, but they are interesting in that they are clearly deliberate choices in part of the writers to establish a sense of homoeroticism between Tritter, House and Wilson.

> [The patient storms out of the exam room, Tritter watches from the nurse's station as House walks out of the exam room whistling.]
> 
> Tritter: I see spending a night in jail hasn't humbled you a bit.
> 
> House: While following my every move is flattering, a single rose on my doorstep each morning would be more enticing.

And

> [Hotel Parking lot. Day. A Tow-truck has hitched up Wilson's car. An understandably upset Wilson walks up to the officer with the clipboard.]
> 
> WILSON: I was not parked illegally. I... I live here.
> 
> OFFICER: [pulls out the warrant from the clipboard] Love note... from Detective Tritter.
> 
> [The officer walks off, leaving an incredulous Wilson to watch his car being towed away.]

House refers to Tritter’s stalking as an attempt at courtship via the ‘a single rose on my doorstep’ comment; and the officer refers to Tritter’s impounding of Wilson’s car as a ‘love note’ (seemingly without any encouragement to do so; again, this narrative of a gay metaphor writes itself). These are, again, deliberate choices on the writers’ part, to show a sense of gayness to Tritter’s obsession with House— this is another point towards the fact Tritter can be read both as a homophobic authority figure or the typical repressed-and-gay figure that takes it out on other gay people.

Another thing I’d like to talk about is the last scene in Fools for Love. We have Tritter, stopping House for speeding in his motorcycle, and they both get to their belief on why Tritter is obsessed with House— House thinks it’s all fault of the rectal thermometer, while Tritter points out House’s drug addiction. Afterward, House practically verbally says no to a body search, before Tritter forces his hands above his head and does it for him.

The way this scene is shot is peculiar, from what I recall, as well. The camera zooms in on House’s abdomen as Tritter lifts his shirt up and starts groping at him; the camera lingers on House’s midriff as Tritter searches for his Vicodin before ultimately finding it. 

A common theme in most House episodes is the relationship between the A plot (the patient’s personal drama and/or sickness) and the B plot (whatever else is happening in the episode). A great example of this would be in the episode Birthmarks, in which House goes to his father’s funeral while the patient’s birth parents are directly correlated to her illness. In the episode Fools for Love, the A plot deals with the patient believing her husband’s father does not like her because she is Black, but it turns out that it is because of a much worse fact, but it’s still a part of them they cannot change. A relationship is ruined by a fact no one can change. The B plot is the start of the Tritter arc, with the rectal thermometer and whatnot, and the theme rings true if we look at it from a homoerotic perspective— Tritter works at ruining House’s life for a fact House cannot change (i.e., being bisexual).

Talking about the rectal thermometer… there is something very Freudian about that entire scene. Not to say Freudian psychology is a valid kind of analysis, especially in shows like House, but it has the same accent of ‘everything is sexual’. 

Tritter comes into the clinic to get his junk checked out for an infection, it soon enough being dismissed by House. 

> House: Sorry, I thought you were waiting 2 hours, didn't know you wanted to chat. Hi, I'm Greg. How 'bout that local sports team? [He checks out Tritter's crotch as Tritter pulls his pants down] It’s not an infection.
> 
> Tritter: How can you tell--
> 
> House: You want me to touch you? It’s your private place.

Again, more with the inherent homoeroticism. I shouldn’t have to talk about how the fact Tritter comes in with an ‘embarrassing’ thing like an infection on his penis is a deliberate choice on the part of the writers to mark it as another cause of humiliation. House asking if Tritter wants him to touch him on his ‘private place’ certainly does not help this; it only makes it more marked and obvious. What makes it even more blatant is the use of the thermometer as the starting point that separates Tritter from a typical clinic duty skit to an arc villain.

Talking about the thermometer... After House takes a swab of his penis and refers to it as unnecessary, Tritter purposefully makes House trip with his cane, and House takes revenge by administering him a rectal thermometer test. The humiliation comes from the anal penetration, a trope commonly used throughout history to show a man as ‘defenseless’ and ‘feminine’ — the act of anal penetration has been commonly thought of as something embarrassing and humiliating, which points towards my analysis as this being part of the narrative made up of homophobia and repression.

> Tritter: Thank you.
> 
> House: Bend over. [Tritter smiles like it’s a joke]
> 
> Tritter: You're kidding me.
> 
> House: If you have an infection, you'd have a fever. You're chewing nicotine gum which messes with the weather in your mouth so I need to [he shows the thermometer] vacation elsewhere.
> 
> [Tritter pulls down his pants a bit more and bends over. House shoves the thermometer up and Tritter gives a little yelp of pain]
> 
> House: And wait 'til I put the thermometer in. [Tritter tries to look back to see what House is doing] Uh uh, you break it, you bought it.
> 
> [Leaving the thermometer where he shoved it, he walks out of the clinic room to the nurse's counter]

The use of anal penetration as humiliation and the fact it kickstarts Tritter’s vindictive nature against House is nothing short of purposeful, in my opinion. The ties between gay sex and this theme are unbreakable and strong across the tome of human history.

Afterward, Tritter questions Chase, Foreman and Cameron about House’s habits, desperately trying to find proof against him other than him clearly taking drugs. He asks how many pills he takes in a day, he asks if they’ve ever prescribed House anything, etc. He searches for someone who will be able to out House to him as an unlawful drug addict, or as a bisexual man, in terms of metaphors.

In conclusion, I am a firm believer of the Tritter arc being a metaphor for homophobic and/or repressed authority figures, with it being on every step of the way about humiliation and the embarassment of gayness and gay-adjacent actions that rule and characterize the lives of many same-gender attracted people.

**Author's Note:**

> as always, transcripts of the episodes are from [clinic-duty @ livejournal.](https://clinic-duty.livejournal.com).
> 
> thank you for reading! feel free to leave comments with your thoughts below.


End file.
